The Victim
by Pawn Of Synchro
Summary: When you kill someone, your emotions run wild! What to do? Where to turn to? Life is like a big slap in the face like that! When you yourself are killed by someone you trusted, you wonder: Why? How? Who is the real victim in the Kill or be Killed game?The killed? The killer? Maybe the survivors! The mastermind perhaps? Spoilers for 1st and 2nd games and AE. Rated T for now.


**The Victim:**

**Kuwata Leon**

Why did this shit happen to me?

I was just meant to have a normal school life, playing baseball until I finally had my chance at becoming a rock star! But no...Obviously I had done _something_ to piss off someone _so_ badly that this is my karma! What was it? It wasn't like I tried to kill or even bully anyone... And surely rejecting my cousin's confessions of love all of those times isn't considered that big of a deal either... So, I can't wrap my head around why I deserve this...!

Why am I in a school of only fourteen other kids who are practically strangers and some psycho teddy bear? And on top of that, the only way to get out is to kill another student...? That's something I can't get my head around...

I mean, on the outside I look like a real punk, but keep a calm manner in a situation like this...No. That's not how it works with people...I know I shouldn't be, but I'm scared shitless...Nothing could beat how terrifying this is. After all, a few of these people seem as if they would kill here...

Like that Oowada guy... He had gotten into an argument with that rich kid Togami not that long ago and he even knocked Naegi out when he tried to tell them to stop. Of course, I can't tell what some of the others here would think... Like Kirigiri, Oogami, Togami and Celeste...I can hardly keep up with them. But, I don't think that the remainders would kill anyone either... So that's reassuring, I guess.

We had all been summoned to the A/V Room by that good-for-nothing bear. Who knows what for though...Something about 'motivation'. Hell if I knew what that meant though... I can't really understand him – sorry, it.

Eventually, we were each handed a DVD and were told to watch it. At that moment, I couldn't help but to feel my palms become sweaty. Something told me not to watch it at any cost, but curiosity is both a blessing and a sin. Plus, that bear blew itself up; I don't want to know what else it can do...

Sitting down in front of a computer screen by myself, I placed the headphones over my ears and nervously placed the DVD in the disk drive for the computer and waited for it to load and when it did, I saw a face make its way onto the screen. The face of Kanon Nakajima – my cousin. She had that smile on her face that she made every time that we talked to each-other, waving as she called out 'Onii-chan'. As much as I wanted to smile back at her, I concentrated on the video. Surely, that bear couldn't just let us watch a video of our family without some sort of twist...

As I continued to watch it intensely, I raised a brow as the screen seemed as though it had a glitch or something, concluding with Kanon in tears, looking as if she was trying to run away from someone or something...I couldn't believe that my cousin would be crying like that as a quickly opened the disk drive and threw the headphones off, the video stopping. My mouth was hanging open as I tried to process what had just happened...

..._This_ is what it meant by motivation...?

What is this? I wasn't really one for technology, so I couldn't tell if it was fake or not, but it definitely looked real enough... As I looked around, I could see that most looked worried or scared. At least I wasn't the only one...But that obviously meant that something happened in their video too. I opened my mouth to say something, but I was interrupted by a girlish scream along with a thud. Turning around, I noticed that it was Maizono who was on the ground with her back up against the wall, mumbling something to herself. Naegi walked over to her, but she quickly ran away, screaming.

"It seems as if she needs to be alone..." Celeste stated with a small, yet disturbing, smile.

Kirigiri stared at the exit, looking like she was in deep thought. "I'm not too sure about that..." She began.

"W-What do you mean?" Fujisaki asked, looking as if she was going to cry at any second.

"Well, that was-"

"Upupupu! That's right!" Monokuma laughed on the monitor. I jumped slightly, forgetting that minor detail of him watching our every move. "This is the motive! I can see how despair inducing it is so far! Sometimes I even surprise myself!"

I narrowed my eyes. That's it. It's official. This thing is a total maniac. It's clear that this guy isn't messing around.

"I don't think it is a smart move to leave her alone." Kirigiri finished, completely ignoring the bear. Naegi, hearing this, quickly ran off after Maizono. I stared at the ground. Yeah, it's clear that someone like him would rush to comfort her. He's just that kind of reliable, trustworthy guy. It would be easy for those two to connect. And even though I've had many girlfriends in the past, I've never been good at the whole 'comforting' thing...So, it's better him than me, right?

"They're really going all out with this prank...Almost too far..." Hagakure said to himself.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Even after that, you still think this is a prank?" I asked.

"In any case," Kirigiri began once again. "We shouldn't let this give in to killing one another...That's just what the bear wants...So, just try to calm down...Don't even think of the things that you may have saw."

And with that statement, we all began to leave the room one by one, keeping to ourselves. I had a bad feeling about that video, like how did they manage to do all of that? Did they really do that to the people that we care about? Or should I just think like Hagakure and say to myself it's all a stupid prank...?

But what I really need right now is some rest... I can practically feel the nausea trying to beat me. I headed straight for my room, ignoring everything else.

When I entered, I quickly closed the door behind me and sat on my bed. I looked around the room as this was only my second time in here and I wasn't in here long before being called over to see that video. I grabbed a baseball that I won from that MonoMono Machine. The one goddamned coin that a got from that bear and I just happened to win a baseball. I hate him. I really do.

I ended up playing a silly game out of boredom, bouncing the ball on the ground until it hit the wall and came back to me – you know, like in prison movies. It's actually quite fitting considering we're stuck in a school. At least in some prisons they have T.V. but for the supposed 'privileged students' we're not that privileged... And all I could do was bounce that ball in the same way for about an hour until I became bored. All I could think about was how to kill time.

I could be looking for those monocoins, but I would look like an idiot just looking in random places for some stupid coins with Monokuma's face on it...

I groaned, trying to wrap my head around the situation... It's like one of those awkward moments when you with you could be a kid again and ask your parents for a hug. I felt so sick that I could vomit and just lie down for days...

At that moment, I heard the chimes from the monitor and looked up to see what it wanted.

"**Ahem,"** The high-pitched voice of the bear began. **"It is now 10:00pm. Please return to your rooms. The doors to the cafeteria will be locked momentarily. Goodnight, don't let the despair-bugs bite...Upupupu...!"**

And with that the screen faded to black. I sighed. Had it already been that long...? But I wasn't really in the mood to fall asleep, so I began looking through my drawers to see nothing that seemed interesting...A lint roller, some other junk...But then I came across a toolbox. I wonder why this is in here...Nevertheless; it might be useful to keep this in mind...

Sometime later I got tired of staring at the ceiling, so I stood up and stretched my arms and legs until I noticed a piece of paper in front of my door, someone must've slipped it under my door. I swear, if this isn't a message from one of the girls here saying that they want to go out with me, then I can only think of it as a death threat, and then I would be in some deep shit...

I picked up the piece of paper to see what was written on it and it turned out it was just a simple letter. I read what it said as I slid my fingers through my hair.

_There's something I want to talk to you about,  
Just us two.  
In five minutes,  
Come see me in my room.  
Check the nameplates to make sure you don't get the wrong room,  
Okay?  
Maizono Sayaka_

Maizono wants to talk to me? I thought that she was into Naegi...There's no way she wants me to comfort her. Maybe, just maybe, she's okay now...And because I said all of that stuff about wanting to become a singer...Maybe we're going to practice music – no, we would _talk_ about music...

But still, this is totally a score! Man, this situation is sounding better and better every minute! But, why so late at night? I shrugged it off and made my way to my bathroom and quickly fixed up my hair. Hey, I got at least look good, don't I? I can't let her looks outclass mine! Not that I spend _that_ much time on my hair, alright?

Five minutes? I could barely keep still for five seconds! Screw it! I'm going over there!

I walked out of my room and made my way to Maizono's room with a smile on my face, the note still in my hand. I stood in front of where I remembered Maizono's room being, but I checked the nameplate like the note said and noticed that it had Naegi's name and face on it and her name was on the opposite side of what I remembered it to be. I scratched my head in confusion.

"Maybe this place is making me go nuts..." I mumbled to myself and walked over to Maizono's room and knocked on the door. I waited outside with my hands in my pockets, placing the note inside as well. The smile remained on my face as I continued to wait. I raised an eyebrow as time ticked by and my smile faded. I know that I'm Leon Kuwata, but there's no need to take this long...Heh! Women...

I held my hand on the knob and turned it, surprisingly, it was opened! I blinked. Not even a 'come in!' from the other side of this door. Something's up...But then again, it _is_ quality time with Maizono, so...

I opened the door and peered around, closing the door behind me.

"Maizo-!" I called out, pausing seeing Maizono slowly walking towards me. I smiled, feeling the heat rush to my face. "Sorry about barging in like this, but your door was opened and I just thought that I should come in so we could-"

It took place in a mere second, but I was just barely missed by what seemed to be a punch. "What was that for? I said I was-!" I stopped noticing that she actually had a knife in her hand. "-sorry... What are you doing with a knife! You could've killed-!"

...Oh God...

...I am so stupid...

...That's why she called me out here...

...I'm just her ticket out of here...

I could only think for a split second before I grabbed what seemed to be a sword – a replica sword, I know, I'm about to be killed here, leave me alone – to shield myself from the next strike of the knife.

I quickly ran to the other side of the room, but she followed, slashing the walls as she missed me.

I stared at her and then the walls, the replica sword and back to her. She was goddamned serious with the idea of trying to kill me! And I thought Oowada would've been the first one!

"Maizono, put down the knife! You can't be serious, right? You don't actually believe that-!" I began, but she interrupted.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up and die already!" She screamed as she tried again and again to attack. It's really no use! She isn't in the mood for talking! Maybe if I am a bit more forceful, just maybe...

"Would you just stop already?" I yelled as I pushed harder with the replica sword. I noticed tears rolling down her eyes as she screamed in pain. God, I didn't push _that _hard! Curse this baseball strength! That goddamned coach of mine...! If I get out of this, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!

I noticed that Maizono wasn't holding the knife anymore. I looked down and saw it at my feet. I quickly picked it up, but Maizono was already on the run towards the bathroom and she shut it behind her. I dropped the sword and began slamming on the door, not caring if the others woke up because of me – though, if I remember correctly these rooms are sound-proof.

"Maizono! Open up! Come on!" I called out to her. I tried opening the door, but of course, it was locked. Figures...Maybe I should just act more calmly. Got to try to stay calm in a situation like this. "Maizono..." I said softly. "Please...? Come on, I'm not going to kill you or anything...I promise I didn't mean to hurt you...It was just reflexes is all...So, anytime..."

I mentally slapped myself, there's no way to prove that I won't hurt her...

"NO! I KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO TRICK ME!" She yelled from the other side.

What? Like how she tricked me? Are we past her flaws and going straight onto mine...That's a little cold if you ask me!

"I'm not!" I replied. "I'll be right back Maizono, okay? Please come out though if you trust me..." I stated and quickly ran to my room.

I looked down in my hand and noticed that I still held the knife firmly in my hand. Why? I don't know...After all, that experience was the most screwed up thing that I had ever been involved with in my entire life. I quickly opened my drawer and found my toolbox. I quickly opened it and grabbed a screwdriver and ran back to Maizono's room. It looked as if she hadn't come out yet...

"Come on, unlock the door, Maizono!" I called out to her again.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed.

That is not a good idea...If she just tried to kill me, then it's possible that she might try it again, or maybe even, something else might happen to her...The first thing I've got to do is try to calm her down. And the only way to do that is to talk with her face-to-face.

"I'm coming in!" I informed her with no response, other than hearing her sobs from the other side of the door. I bit my lip. God, she's scared shitless...But it's not like I'm going to do anything, no pressure...

Using my screwdriver, I quickly tried to break the door knob, my hand shaking as I did so, Maizono's sobs growing louder. Come on, let me in damn it!

Finally! The door knob was broken but it was all for the best. I made my way in, throwing the screwdriver somewhere on the floor. I grabbed onto Maizono's right wrist, causing her to scream as she tried to move away from me.

"Just calm down! I'm not going to hurt you! I told you that! Didn't I?" I yelled at her a little too forcefully, perhaps that stress of the situation was the thing causing it...I don't know...

"STOP! LET GO! LET GO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Maizono continued to scream.

"What are you talking about, Maizono? I would never kill you!" I replied.

Maizono's eyes narrowed. "You..." She began. Is she calming down? "NO! YOU'RE LYING! I KNOW BECAUSE YOU CAME IN HERE WITH IT!" She then began struggling even more, not stopping for a second. Damn it! What am I going to do?

As Maizono ripped her hand away from me, she lost balance and slipped, but before that could happen, I grabbed onto her back with one hand and with the other, I-

No...

...Shit...

...How could I be so blind...?

...During that whole situation...

...I forgot completely about the knife...

I dropped Maizono – her body seeming to lose life every second – as I stared at the knife that I had impaled into her abdomen. I did not just do that! She had a look of pain on her face as the life began to fade away from her eyes. Just to make sure, I stared at my hands, noticing the blood on both them and my clothes. Looking back from my hands to Maizono's body over and over and bolted back to my room shutting the door behind. I slid down as I leaned against it, hands on my head, through my hair, tears silently making their way down my face

"Shit..." I mumbled to myself repeatedly as if in a trance. I had just killed someone...That was the one thing I never thought that I would do! Sure, like I said before, I never bullied anyone, but I did get into those few fights...But not once did I ever think about killing them...Then again, there was never a knife involved...

"What do I do?" I asked myself. I took my hands out of my hair that I felt like ripping out...I stared at my bloodstained hands and clothes and stood up slowly. "What would the others think?"

Of course, looking at me, I definitely looked like a murderer. They wouldn't think that the sweet and innocent Maizono Sayaka would want to do something as terrible as killing another...But me on the other hand, it's easy to see that I would do something like this...I shook my head. I got to make sure that they don't think it's me!

I rushed back to Maizono's room and looked at the mess that was made. This would take a while, but who knows what time it is! I have to finish this up fast. Where to start? If I had to wager all of my money, I'd say that at least a few of these guys had seen a mystery movie in their time. Where to start?

I looked around and noticed a few strands of red hair. And there is no way I am looking around until dawn to find every strand of hair and pick them up one by one. Then I remembered! I looked through the drawers until I found a lint roller. Perfect! It's a good thing that Maizono had one of these in her room! But when I looked, I noticed a toolbox there too. Maybe Monokuma made a mistake with the room...Whatever, this isn't the time.

I then began to get rid of the evidence starting with all of my hair on the ground; maybe that knife sliced away some of my hair with that first strike...Once I finished, I had used up most of the lint roller...I threw away what parts of the lint had my hair on it and I grabbed onto my screwdriver and made my way out of there.

The hard part was how to get rid of the jacket...I couldn't risk just putting it in my room, besides, that'll make it harder to sleep at night...

"There's a Trash Room here, isn't there?" I asked myself. I then found my way there but there was a problem. I needed a key to unlock the large bars that were in my way to pressing that button to turn the incinerator on. I scratched my head in thought. This isn't going to work...I'll take the Laundry Room instead!

I quickly ran to the Laundry Room going to try my luck with the washing machines instead, but then I remembered that there was no water at night time. I tried to look for something else that could work...It doesn't have to be anything specific...Wait, is that...?

I walked over to the table and picked up the glass ball that was sitting there. "Must be Hagakure's..." I muttered. Maybe if I use this...It might be able to do the trick...It's not that much different from pitching a baseball, right?

I ran back to the Trash Room and stared at the incinerator. All I have to do is hit the button...Sounds easy enough...Well; it does to me anyway...

With that, I got into position, aimed and threw the glass ball towards the button for the incinerator and it was a perfect shot, although the ball broke into pieces, but hey, it was only a thirty percent accuracy anyway...I'm sure he won't miss it all that much...

I took off my jacket and scrunched it up until it was in a ball shape and threw it into the flames through the bars. It looked as if it was all burning...Good, I should be fine then...

I ran back to my room and shoved the screwdriver back into the toolbox. I then sat on my bed. I should be okay...But, I wonder...I get to graduate, right? So, does that mean that they'll figure me out anyway...?

It's difficult to think like this...Though; it's even harder to get to sleep. I have a feeling I won't get much sleep tonight...

But eventually, I finally managed to fall asleep...Luckily, with no nightmares of what had just happened...

**-The next morning-**

I woke up yawning, sitting on the edge of my bed. Who knows what time it is...Honestly, I don't even care anymore...After what happened between me and Maizono last night, I just want to crawl into a hole and die...But, at the same time, I want to explain myself to the others...

I stood up and began to clean myself up; making sure that everything was the same as before...It made me wonder how much hair gel this place had. My bathroom was practically full of it. Opening my closet, I noticed how many jackets there were. Out of routine, I guess, I grabbed one and put it on. I then stared at my reflection in the mirror. It made me sick to think that I killed someone, but...

I exited my room and made my way to the Dining Hall, but along the way, I met up with Kirigiri. I blinked as she looked as if she was inspecting me or something.

"Um..." I began nervously. "What's up, Kirigiri?"

She stared at me for a moment with the same expression she normally has on her face. "We shouldn't keep the others waiting, Kuwata..." She stated and walked off to the Dining Hall. I raised a brow. Don't tell me she has some sort of liar detector on her or something...That would really suck...

I then continued, somehow ending up walking with Fukawa, Hagakure and Celeste. Celeste looked up at me with that same creepy smile.

"You seem distracted..." She told me. Oh God, there are two liar detectors in the group...

"Nah..." I replied, leaving it at that.

I looked over at the other two to see if they were onto me.

"W-Why are you s-staring at me like that?" Fukawa stuttered. "W-What's with that look?"

She doesn't seem mad at me...I think. "Nothing." I replied.

"Kuwata, have you seen it?" Hagakure began.

I raised a brow. "What are you talking about...?" I asked.

"The aliens must've taken it!" Hagakure declared. "Aliens, I tell you!"

I blinked. "Uh...Aliens? You do realise that..." I paused. Maybe I can let him believe in whatever he wants. "Are you talking about your glass ball?"

"Actually, it's a crystal ball..." Hagakure corrected me. Same thing...

I bit my lip and gave him a fake smile. "Nope! Haven't seen it!" I really don't think I'm all that good at lying, but, it seemed like it fooled him...

The conversations ended there and we finally made it to the Dining Hall. Everyone who was already in there looked at us expectantly.

"Good morning, everyone." Celeste simply said.

As much as I wanted to tell them about the situation, all that came out of my mouth when I opened it was, "My bad, guys! Slept right through my alarm!" And everyone, as far as I knew, seemed convinced. And by that time, everyone – who was still with us – had arrived, well, Togami wasn't there either...Maybe he also got killed...? God, I'm really going to be in for it later...

"What's going on? Did something happen?" I jumped at the sudden voice that belonged to Togami...Crap, pretty much anything can set me off now...I have to seriously be more careful...

Then, things got really bad from that point on...With Oowada...

"Hey man! Have you seen Maizono?" He asked.

"Why would I have?" Togami asked. "I just came straight from my room to here."

Shit.

"Did she forget about our breakfast promise...?" Yamada asked.

Shit.

Then Kirigiri spoke up. "I got the sense she always has her stuff together..."

_Shit_.

Everyone continued to talk about Maizono, but when I looked over at Naegi, he looked worried. "I-I need to go..." He said softly. "I have to check on her!" And with that out of the way, he ran faster than lightning out of the room.

I looked at the ground. Of course, out of all the people here, he's going to be the first to find out...And those two were close, weren't they? They looked as if they were...Like they had been dating or something? Or at least good friends...Crap, they're all going to kill me, aren't they?

We all stood up as we heard a loud scream, the only one it could be being Naegi's. Many rushed over while I just stood there. So, it happened...Naegi's scream just confirmed it. Enoshima looked over at me.

"Well, are you coming or not?" She asked. "Who knows what could've happened!"

She was pretty damn forceful with her words, like a soldier on the battlefield. I nodded and we ran over together. That was really the last place I wanted to be, but if I didn't go...

Everyone was utterly shocked at the sight. They all looked from the unconscious Naegi to Maizono's body. I gulped, deciding it was better to look at the ground instead. Though, in those few seconds that I looked at her, there seemed to be some strange patterns on the wall made from her blood. Either my eyes aren't working, or it's just a coincidence.

"It's happened already?" Asahina gasped.

"Alright! Which one of you bastards did it? I'll beat the crap out of you right now!" Oowada yelled. Yeah..._That's_ not making me feel like more of an asshole...

"Violence is not the answer to this problem..." Oogami stated as he – sorry, _she _– folded _her _arms.

"But this is just-!" Oowada began, but stopped as he was interrupted.

The chimes on the monitor rang again, Monokuma appearing on the screen.

"**A body has been discovered. Now then, please meet up at the Gym for a special announcement! Oh! And someone should take the lucky student there too before I just kill him off myself! Upupupu...!"**

The screen faded back to black and we all looked at each-other. Enoshima looked as if she was going to take Naegi to the Gym but Hagakure beat her to the punch. I noticed as Hagakure picked Naegi up, Junko sent him what seemed to be a death glare – if looks could kill, then Hagakure would've been dead by now...But, Enoshima seemed to rush at the opportunity to help Naegi...Like, I know he doesn't seem to weigh that much by looking at him, but how does she think that she could do it by herself...? Not only that, but she seemed as if she was pretty Hell-bent on getting over here...I wonder...

"W-Wait! Are we s-seriously going to d-do as that _thing_ t-tells us to?" Fukawa asked.

"Yeah! Look at what happens whenever we do what he says!" Asahina agreed.

"That is true..." Fujisaki said with a nod, tears rolling down her face. "I mean, with the video and-"

"Let's go." Kirigiri told us.

"What?" I asked with curiosity. "Why?"

"There is no point in defying him...If he can imprison us this easily and make us kill each-other, then we have no idea what else he is capable of..." She explained. "Besides, what would be the point of us all dying here?"

We looked at each-other and eventually we agreed on what Kirigiri had to say. She...Makes a good point...

So, we did as Kirigiri told us to and made our way over to the Gym. We waited for a few moments, but he still didn't wake up. Though, Ishimaru suggested that we should conduct mouth-to-mouth CPR on him, no one seemed up to the challenge...Though, Enoshima was as red as my hair. Yeah...Something's up...

"Enoshima, are you-?" I began but was interrupted.

"No. That's impossible, Kuwata..." Enoshima said. "But if you press further, I'll be forced to..." She seemed as if she was trying to rephrase what she was going to say next and it kind of sent a chill up my spine. She smiled with her normal happy smile that she had on day one. "Well, let's not get into that, right?"

I immediately shut my mouth. Talk about scary...I thought she was supposed to be a Gyarunot someone who belonged in an intimidation unit.

Everyone looked back at Naegi who was slowly waking up, asking if he was okay and to 'get his ass up'. Everyone explaining to him what had happened.

"So it wasn't a dream?" He asked. "What I saw...It was real...?" My expression softened. I do feel bad but...What Togami said.

"That's right. It really did happen. Maizono is dead."

Naegi immediately shot up onto his feet and was about to take off to the rooms when Togami stopped him.

"Hey where do you think you're going?" He asked with a raised brow.

Naegi turned to face him tears welling up in the corner of his eyes. "I have to see for myself! I have to see if Maizono is-if Maizono is-!"

"You can check once, twice, a thousand times. Maizono is completely and irrevocably dead." Togami stated. I could feel myself about to throw up again. How do murderers not feel this way when they kill someone...! I can barely keep it all down.

Naegi kept on trying to convince them that he had to see her, but everyone was trying to explain the situation to him. But, it didn't seem like he wanted to listen.

"Well, what good is it going to do just sitting around here?" He screamed. "I mean, why are we all hanging out in the Gym at a time like this?"

"Our friend...Maizono...She's..."

"She's dead!"

A those words were like a friggen' dagger through my stomach – okay, not the best expression, but that is the only way to put it...

"None of us want to be here right now, either." Kirigiri explained.

"Then...Why?" Naegi asked.

"Sh-Shouldn't it be obvious? Monok-kuma...He told us all to c-come here..." Fukawa told him, biting her fingernails.

Ishimaru continued to explain further on how we all went against what Monokuma told us to and Kirigiri added to that by giving Naegi the same speech that she gave us before. Naegi remained silent for a moment, but then he said that Monokuma was the one who killed Maizono. Ouch. Everyone's making me feel like crap...

Then out of nowhere, _it_ appeared. Does that thing crawl under the floorboards? I could feel my blood boiling as he stated that he would 'never' do that.

"He's here again..." I growled, with my fists curled up into balls. Monokuma went on about how he wouldn't interfere in this odd way...I can hardly keep up with him anymore.

"Then...Who did it?" Fujisaki nervously asked. "Who killed her?"

Monokuma was of course built to keep that grin on his face, but I could tell that he would've had a much larger grin on the inside as he said, "You already know the answer! The one who killed her is...One of you!"

Sweat began to make its way down from my forehead to my chin. Was he going to rat me out? What would everyone think? These thoughts were raging on in my head as everyone remained silent. That bastard...!

"Hmm? What's the matter?" Monokuma asked. "You guys all look like you're about to see a dove get shot with a Gatling gun!" I couldn't believe this...

He's comparing this...With doves?

"Don't you remember what I told you when this all began?"

"One of you decided to kill Maizono so that you could graduate!"

God, he's probably doing this on purpose! I know that I didn't do it for that reason! I didn't even intend on killing her in the first place! I was just defending myself and trying to calm her down! But...The others...They'll think that I did it just so I could...Graduate...

No one wanted to believe that one of us killed her. Hell, even I – the person who murdered her – didn't want to believe it. Naegi continued to say that Monokuma did it and everyone freaked out when he told them he didn't. God, it's coming up quicker than I thought it would...

Then, the question was asked...

"That's enough." Togami said. "Before we do anything else, I'd like to confirm something with the stuffed animal here. If one of us really did kill her, that person gets to graduate from the school, right?"

Now, I knew that Togami was someone who got straight to the point on things, but in a situation like this, no one just asks a question like that without stuttering or feeling a little nervous! It's like...I don't know how to explain this but...It's like he hardly even cares!

Monokuma just gave him a confused look, making Togami mad. "Don't play dumb! That's what you said, isn't it? If you kill someone, you get to leave!" But, Monokuma just laughed. Is he telling us...There's more? Another catch? Killing someone else just isn't enough? What is this?

"Why are you laughing?" I dared to ask the bear. I couldn't help it...After all, that's the only way to know, right?

Monokuma went on and on about how naive we were. Naive? _Naive_? I knew it! There was another catch! But, I just killed someone! How on Earth is that naive?

"No, no, no, the real thing has just begun." He stated.

Oh God...

"Are you ready? Allow me to explain the second part of the rule regarding graduation! Just like I explained before, you must kill someone if you want to leave. However...Even if you do that, there's still one more part to the agreement you have to uphold, remember?" Monokuma began.

"You are referring to rule number six of the school regulations..." Celeste told him in a calm manner. "If you are the "blackened" that committed the murder, you can't be found out by the other students. That is what you are talking about, is it not?" I don't understand...She's so calm about this...How?

"Bingo! It's not enough to just kill someone. You have to actually get away with it! Which naturally means you need a system in place to assess whether or not it's been gotten away with!" Monokuma told us.

"_So, a certain amount of time after a murder has taken place, a class trial will begin!"_

Class...Trial...? Trial? What the hell does that mean?

"Yup! It'll begin a few hours after the murder!" Monokuma said in excitement. "Everyone will gather together, including the blackened who committed the murder. And they and the spotless students will all engage in one big debate showdown!"

"During the trial, you'll have to present your arguments about who you think the blackened is. And once everything comes to an end, the outcome will be decided by popular vote! If the answer you've arrived at is correct...Only the one that disturbed you peace will be punished. The rest may continue their communal life. However...If you choose poorly...Then the one who got away with murder will survive and the rest of you will receive your punishment. Which of course means your school life will come to an end! As far as class trial rules go...That's all there is to it!"

That's it...? That's _it_? He's acting as if it's no big deal...But, what does he mean by _punishment_? He seemed to...Say that a lot during that speech... When Yamada asked the question Monokuma answered with this:

"It's execution!"

And in case we needed to hear that again, he spelt it out for us.

"Execution is...Execution. Ex-e-cution!" He then began to list many ways of execution and I could barely keep up. So, if I'm found out, I die. If I don't, all the others die. What the hell is this? I didn't ask for this! He then explained about he put the new rule in our school regulations, and at that moment, our handbooks all beeped, but we all ignored them.

"W-Wait, hold on a second!" Enoshima yelled. "You're freaking insane, you know that?" Monokuma looked at her confused. "A class trial? What the hell is that? I don't want anything to do with it!"

Okay, I knew that none of us liked anything about being here, but...I have a bad feeling about this...

"Why not?" Monokuma asked.

"What do you mean 'why not'?" She yelled, getting increasingly annoyed. "Why do I have to waste my time trying to figure out who murdered someone?"

"What? Are you saying you're not going to participate in the trial? Only punishment awaits such blasphemy!" Monokuma stated in anger.

Punishment...Up until now, that has been another word for execution, so does that mean he's going to...?

"What? Punishment?" Enoshima asked.

"I might...I don't know, throw you in a deep, dark, scary prison or something!" Monokuma told her. So, is he going to kill her or not? I can't tell with that bear...

"Shut the hell up! Say whatever you want, I'm not going to be part of this!" Junko said once again.

"Don't be so selfish!" Monokuma yelled. I know this is serious, but the way this is playing out, it looks as if two family members are fighting over who gets the last piece of chocolate.

"You're the one being selfish! Kill whoever you want; it's got nothing to do with me!" Enoshima continued.

"The evil standing here before me...I'm trembling with fear...!" Monokuma said sarcastically. He continued how he wasn't going to let that happen and then he said, "You'll have to go through me first!"

As Monokuma went for Enoshima, he was knocked down under her foot grunting.

"Are you enjoying yourself now?" Enoshima asked.

"Are you?" Monokuma asked. At first, I thought it was some kind of sexual comment, but I would be dead wrong...

"Huh?" Enoshima asked.

"Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is not allowed. You've violated a school regulation..." Monokuma explained. Crap! That's right! We were let off with a warning when Oowada tried to attack him, but now that it's been done a second time...He wouldn't!

"I invoke the mighty summon spell! Help! To me, godly spear Gungnir!"

At that point, I didn't know what to think as many spears shot down and impaled Enoshima in many places, blood staining her body and clothes.

Enoshima was hardly able to speak from the pain and shock – I'm guessing – but I swore I could've heard her say something, but I'm not quite sure of what, and she fell to the ground, unmoving...

"Wh-What the...?" Asahina asked in shock.

"I don't..." Fujisaki began.

"Th-This can't be real!" I gasped. He really did it...He actually killed her...It wasn't that long ago when she was smiling and giving me a death threat...But now...She's dead...

As everyone else gave their own reactions to this incident, Monokuma continued to speak.

"Now, I am painfully aware of the great power and meaning of a promise...I really wanted to keep a corpse from popping up for no good reason, you know? But I guess you all needed to be taught a lesson, after all. Ah, what an amazing promise! But now you guys understand, right? Now you see just how serious I am...Defy me and you get shot full of holes, exploded, buried alive, disintegrated...Etcetera. So, if you don't want that to happen to you, you'd best obey those school regulations!"

What was this...? He just killed her...? And he's got way more ideas than just that too...This is clearly something not to mess with...He's fully capable of killing us all at anytime...But, he kept on mentioning a promise...Is that just to do with the regulations, or is it something more...?

"Why did you have to kill her?" Kirigiri asked. "Didn't you say you would put her in prison or something?"

And Monokuma just answered with, "I changed my mind."

"No," Kirigiri stated. "You've wanted to kill this entire time."

Monokuma played dumb, thinking that by 'kill this entire time', is actually murdering time. I don't know how this thing is able to make us do what he wants if he acts this childishly after just killing someone.

"I have something I'd like to give you to help you in your search for the blackened!" Monokuma announced. My eyes narrowed. Oh great, we're back on this and my chances of survival are even worse...Wonderful... "This little file has all the information I've gathered about the death in question. I like to call it...The **Monokuma File**!" And he handed out the 'Monokuma Files' to each of us, continuing on he said, "I mean, naturally you guys aren't experts at this kind of thing, so you can only do so much with a corpse. So instead, I've gathered up everything I know about the circumstances and cause of death. What's that? How do I know the cause of death, you ask? Because the surveillance cameras picked up the whole thing! I got to see it all go down!"

So, he knows...But, that's...I mean that's twisted if he watched the whole thing play out! What the hell is he thinking?

After talking some more about investigating and the trial, Monokuma disappeared, I don't know, I was only half listening...Kirigiri began explaining something about not having full or no faith in each-other, but really it didn't make sense.

"Huh?" I asked, hoping that she would explain in terms that everyone could understand.

"Cooperation is absolutely key at this point. Who you decide to trust or not trust is, of course, up to you." She explained.

"Continuing to think about and talk about the deceased certainly isn't going to help anything." Celeste stated. How could I stop thinking about it, I hardly got any sleep last night and she's telling us to just stop thinking about the dead?

"S-Saying stuff like that is just-!" Asahina began angrily.

"How many times have I told you? Anyone who can't adapt...Will die." Celeste told her. "Death is the only thing awaiting those who are unable or unwilling to adapt." She smiled. "If that happens, you only have yourself to blame."

"What an awful thing to say! Especially after what's happened!" Asahina yelled.

"Right now, exposing the killer is the most important thing." Kirigiri interrupted. "Because if we don't we're all going to die here." After that everyone agreed that what she said, even I said that I wasn't going to die here. And I won't. I know that means the death of everyone else, but...I have to make sure that Kanon is okay...As much as she bugs me at times, she's still the one person I wouldn't want to get hurt...

Naegi walked over to Enoshima's dead body and placed to fingers on her wrist, most likely looking for a pulse. "She...She really is dead." He mumbled.

"I don't know why you even bothered to check." Togami stated. "After those injuries, and losing that much blood...Frankly, I'd be shocked if she _did_ survive something like that." Well, there's always one major jerk on every team, I guess...And this time it's not me...

"H-Huh?" Hagakure asked. "H-Hold on...H-H-H-Hold o-on! J-J-Just w-wait a second! Sh-She's...Dead? Then that means...! That means everything that's happened so far is real? It's not a joke or whatever? It's really real? Hell no! S-Someone save me! Let me out of here! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

Well, I guess I can't really blame him...I felt the same...I still do actually...

Celeste began giggling. What about though? I wouldn't have a hope in Hell of figuring that out. "Have any of you noticed yet?" She asked. I raised a brow.

"Huh? Noticed what?" I asked. I noticed that she was looking at the Monokuma File that we had gotten. Is there something in there that points to me being the killer...?

"I was looking through the Monokuma File we received. And I noticed something very obvious and very unusual." Celeste replied.

"Huh?" Fujisaki asked. "What are you talking about...?"

"Go ahead, take a look. Notice anything interesting about where Maizono died?" Celeste asked. She died in her room, didn't she? "She died in Naegi's room." What?

"Wh-She's right!" Asahina agreed.

No seriously, what?

"Then, could it be...?" Yamada gasped.

The Hell? That can't be right...

"H-Hold on a second! You've got it all wrong!" Naegi defended himself. "F-For just one night, I...I traded rooms with her. I did it because...She was afraid." Then again...

"Y-You expect us to b-believe that? Just tell us the t-truth!" Fukawa said angrily.

I opened my mouth to defend him but it immediately shut...If I said anything, I would be considered as a suspect. If it was a different situation, I would've...But...

**Monokuma File:**

**The victim was Maizono Sayaka.  
The time of death is estimated to be around 1:30am  
The body was discovered in Naegi's room, in the dormitory  
All evidence suggests that the death took place in the bathroom  
The cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen  
There was also an injury to her right wrist  
Specifically, the wrist appears to have suffered a fracture**

Well, from what it's saying so far, it seems about right. She did seem in pain about her wrist...And she definitely died in the bathroom...But I'm pretty sure that it was in her own room that I was in, not Naegi's...

Kirigiri spoke up once again. Day one we couldn't get her to speak, but now... "Before we start searching for Maizono's killer, we need to decide what to do about securing the crime scene." She explained.

"What do you mean?" Naegi asked.

"You're thinking of putting someone on guard duty so nobody can disturb the area, aren't you?" Togami asked. "After all, if the culprit decides to destroy the evidence, we're pretty much screwed."

I opened my mouth but Oowada beat me. "In that case, I don't mind doing it. I don't like having to think, anyway. I'll let you guys figure out who killed that chick." He offered. I shut my mouth and stared at the ground.

"Okay, then we can let Oowada look after the scene." Asahina said.

"Well, no...We can't just leave him there alone." Togami stated.

"What?" Oowada yelled in shock. "Why the Hell not?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Togami asked. "If you were the culprit, what's the first thing you would do? By volunteering for guard duty, you're in a position to destroy all the evidence you want."

"Wh-?" Oowada sputtered. "Fuck you!"

"Fine, then I'll stay there on guard duty as well. That way there's no problem." Oogami offered.

"2-Player co-op base defence with the two of them...With their stats, they're totally OP!" Yamada stated. Well, I think I got what he was trying to say...I'm just glad that Oowada interrupted me before I awaited my doom.

"Since we won't be able to help investigate, we're putting our faith in the rest of you." Oogami told us.

"I-I'm still pretty freaked out, but...I'll try." Asahina said.

One by one, many left the Gym, although, I'm really stumped on what I'm going to do...

"We don't r-really have to do anything in p-particular." Fukawa stuttered. "W-We already know who killed her..."

Naegi stared at her. "What are you implying?" He asked.

"It was y-you." Fukawa declared.

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" Naegi defended.

"D-Don't come any c-closer! Are you g-going to kill me next?" Fukawa yelled.

"W-Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot." Asahina said. "It's not for sure that Naegi's guilty yet."

"That's true. We may as well at least check just to check." Yamada replied.

"Even if I w-wanted to, I c-couldn't help inv-vestigate..." Fukawa mumbled. Huh?

"Wait, why not?" I asked.

"I'm not g-good with...B-B-Blood. All it takes is o-one glimpse and I b-black out." Fukawa answered.

I looked at Junko's dead body. That must be why she's not looking...I sighed, scratching my head. "Well, whatever. I don't think anyone was expecting much from you, anyway. Alright, I guess I better get going." I said and began to leave, hearing Naegi calling out to listen to him. I shook my head. I have better things to do...But the only thing I'm wondering is...Did I get rid of enough evidence? I'm not sure...But I don't really think that I'm in the mood to see anymore dead bodies today...

I made it to the outside of the rooms staring at the nameplates. So, it happened in Naegi's room...Wait a minute though!

'_Check the nameplates to make sure you don't get the wrong room,'_

"It's odd..." I mumbled.

"As I figured," Togami muttered. I turned around to see that he was talking to both me and Yamada. "Can't you handle it?"

I narrowed my eyebrows. "Look, I've seen enough crap for today! One dead body is enough for me!" I told him.

Togami chuckled "And what of you?" He asked Yamada.

"I'm on power-saving mode!" Yamada declared. Both Togami and I raised a brow.

"Honestly, you two are bigger idiots than I could ever imagine..." Togami said as he shook his head.

"Lay off man!" I yelled. Just then Naegi walked out of Maizono's room.

"Is everything okay out here?" He asked.

Since it was obvious that the other two weren't going to, I decided to speak. "Never mind what's going on out here...It's not all that productive anyway..." I told him. "How's the investigation going?"

Naegi scratched the back of his neck. "Well, it's definitely giving us some clues...But, we still don't have a clear idea of who did it yet..." He admitted.

I see...So, they still don't know it was me...

"What are you doing out here Leon?" He asked. "I would've figured that you would have no problem...With, you know..."

I shrugged. "Well the thing is...I've seen a bit too much blood today...And besides, I'm not really good at investigating..." I lied.

"Oh." Naegi said. "But didn't you say to Fukawa-?"

"But," I said interrupting him. "I'm not sure if there's a problem with this Monokuma File or there's a problem with the scene..."

Naegi blinked. "Um...Well, I'm not sure what you mean...Everything seems right so far..."

"Huh? Didn't you notice?" I asked. "You either came out of Maizono's room, or something's off about that nameplate..."

"Really?" Naegi asked. He looked back and stared at the nameplates that belonged to him and Maizono. "No way..." He gasped in shock. I sighed. At this point, my only option is to give someone else the blame. And right now the only other person who could be blamed at this point is him...But, I may as well humour myself, thinking that I'm helping.

I noticed that Togami was talking to Naegi, though that obviously wasn't a good sign on its own...Naegi seemed to look down by the end of their discussion, but he walked over to Yamada, trying to look chipper – well, as chipper as someone could look considering the situation...

"Yamada, I'm looking for the person who is on cleaning duty." He began. "Would you know who that is?"

"Cleaning duty?" Yamada asked. "Well, if you must know, it's me. Why do you ask? Monokuma asked me to do it otherwise the school would be flooded in trash...So, that's why I formally applied for the position! I was supposed to begin this morning but after what happened..."

"In that case, you can open the gate, right?" Naegi asked.

"Of course!" Yamada said, sounding a bit too happy about his position. "As the janitor, I must gather all the garbage and toss it in the trash room! And they entrusted me with the key to make it to level two!"

So...That's why I couldn't do anything about the bars...Yamada is the only one able to open and close them – he has the key. But why is he so happy?

"We will be taking turns, rotating once a week, so even you will be in charge one day!" Yamada stated.

"Wait, hold on..." Togami interrupted. "You need a key to get in the Trash Room? And only the person on cleaning duty has access to the key? I don't see a point in going through all of that trouble...Why not just leave the Trash Room open all the time so we can all throw things out whenever we want?"

Naegi nodded. "It would be a lot more convenient."

You're telling me...

Togami looked as if he was in thought and smirked. "I see...If anyone could go in and out of the Trash Room whenever they wanted...Then destroying evidence would be easy. The thrill would disappear, and things would become boring."

I'm sorry, could he repeat that. His tone sounded...Weird...

"B-Boring?" Naegi asked in shock. But that's not what I'm worried about...I'm still stuck on the topic from before.

"Well, more importantly..." I began. "Yamada, why the hell would you want to do something as shitty as being the janitor...?"

He looked nervous. "I knew no one else would want to do it, so I volunteered...Is there something wrong with that?"

Fat chance...Now that I put all the pieces together...This guy is like reading a picture book with only one page!

"You're lying!" I told him. "I know that you just want to poke around in the girls certain pieces of trash and do a bunch of stuff with it!" Okay, not only was I curious, but it could buy me some time so...

"HUH? But all of my love belongs to the world of 2D!" Yamada replied.

"Don't play dumb! I know that there are a bunch of people who dig around in the trash for that kind of thing...Besides, one day you'll get tired of 2D and then you'll-"

"NEVER!" Yamada screamed. "I spent a lot of time comparing the pros and cons of 2D and 3D! The only good 3D is of is to love the 2D world! Oh, and of course the figurines!"

"Um...I have no idea how you're not embarrassed to say those kinds of things..." I said.

"There is a simple solution if you are truly _that_ concerned about Yamada's questionable motives." Togami said. "If a male has cleaning duty, Oogami will accompany them to make sure that they don't 'poke around'."

"W-WHAT?" Yamada screamed.

"I don't see the harm if you aren't interested in what this fool said you were..." Togami replied. I folded my arms. Yeah – Togami is a total jerk.

"Gah! Well, I mean...But it's not-!"

"Um...Sorry Yamada, but about the Trash Room...I need a favour..." Naegi said.

"Ahem! If you wish to become one of my party members, you must wait until I set up that flag!" Yamada replied. "I mean, if you haven't been on a quest to save a village or been on a mission to beat a boss level with me..."

"N-No...Actually I was just hoping that you could help me get in so I could look around..." Naegi corrected him.

"Sure!" Yamada answered.

"That was...Easy..." Naegi mumbled.

I groaned. He is kind of easy...

With that the two of them left. It was at this moment, I realized that I was alone with Togami...Never be alone with Togami...Just looking at him reminds me of how much more money he has than me...

"Well, I'm going to...Go..." I said, not expecting a 'goodbye' or 'be careful'. And then I left.

I made my way to the boys' bathroom and leaned against the wall, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Why did this shit happen to me...?" I muttered.

"Upupupu...! Are you thinking of doing something...Naughty...?" Monokuma asked, appearing from nowhere.

"Oh, it's you..." I groaned.

"Wah? Aren't you excited to see me anymore? How despairing...I thought that we had something special..." Monokuma said, feigning disappointment.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms. "I was _hoping_ to have a few moments of peace and quiet..._I_ should be the one who's disappointed.

"Is this about this morning?" Monokuma asked. "I mean, breaking a poor, innocent girl's wrist and scaring her half to death...Oh, not to mention killing her the other half of the way too!"

"Be quiet!" I yelled at him. "It's not my fault!"

"Are you sure...I mean if you are driving while talking on your phone and accidently run over a kid, who are you going to blame? The person who called you? The car in front of behind you? The kid you killed? Murder is still murder! It doesn't matter if it's an accident or not! Everyone will be punished accordingly!" Monokuma explained. All I could do was stand there as he talked.

"What? Aren't you going to investigate?" He asked.

"What would be the point...?" I asked. "There's no point in seeing anymore dead bodies..."

"What about the evidence? The trial will be full of drama if everyone freaked out because they had no clues! The despair it brings..." Monokuma continued.

"..." Maybe it's like a dog...If I ignore him for long enough, he'll go away...

Monokuma grumbled. "You know, if you-hey are you listening?" He yelled as I acted as if I were fixing my hair. "You're no fun..." And with that, he was finally gone. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. If we don't take part in it, we get executed...If the killer's figured out, they get executed...If they can't figure out who the killer is, and everyone else is executed. Basically kill or be killed. Not the kind of game I'm into. I swear to God, I will go back to play baseball without complaining, I will go on a date with Kanon and make it perfect! I would take out all of my piercings and change my hair back to blonde! I would do all of that to get out of this Hell-hole!

The chimes of the monitor rang once again.

"**Um...So, I got kind of tired of waiting, so the trial is going to begin momentarily. Now, pay close attention, so then you don't get lost! Please make your way through the red door on the first floor of the school! Puhuhu! See you soon...!"**

The screen on the monitor faded to black once more. But if I die or survive here, that will be the last time that I ever see that face again! I did as he said and made it to the red door, walking through, I noticed that nearly everyone was gathered in front of an elevator...Well, _almost _everyone...

"You sure took your sweet time..." Togami told me. I frowned.

"Yeah, yeah...I get it! You're perfect, I'm not! You don't have to rub it in!" I replied.

Celeste laughed. "Come now, if we all quarrel like this again..." She began with a smile, soon fading away. "All of us _will_ die...!"

I gulped and made my way to a corner in the room as we all waited for the last of us to arrive, and after a short amount of time, he did...

Naegi walked in looking around as we all stared at him, Ishimaru being the first to speak.

"Naegi, you're late! We have been waiting for your arrival!" He stated.

Fukawa smirked. "Hmph. I bet y-you were afraid you would be discovered after you m-murdered Maizono..." She said.

"Well, we cannot jump to conclusions! The class trial has not even begun yet!" Ishimaru suggested. "We can discuss the details of Naegi's crime there!"

As I looked around, a few people seemed to be suspicious of Naegi being the killer...And, it looked as if no one would be pointing fingers at me anytime soon...So, that's always something to keep in mind...Naegi held a look of frustration and concern on his face the entire time, though he _did_ look as if he was working hard on the investigation stuff...But, I tried not to think about it as we noticed Monokuma's face on the monitor.

"**Puhuhu...It looks as if everyone's here...Good! May you please enter the elevator in front of you and proceed to the courtroom...? I'll be waiting for you...Remember; your necks are on the line...Puhuhu..."**

We all looked at each-other, wondering why this is all happening, but we did as we were told and walked into the elevator. Everyone began to talk as the elevator felt like a ship through a storm – not that I've ever been on a boat or nothing...

"So, this must be how a death row inmate feels while he's waiting for...You know..." Naegi wondered aloud.

"However, you sound like a culprit knowing he's going to receive his sentence..." Celeste told him. And that was the last thing said in the elevator before we reached the courtroom, sending a chill up my spine.

"I see that you are all here in one piece! What do you think of it? Doesn't it remind you of a Hollywood movie set?" Monokuma asked.

"Not even a little..." Oowada replied. "It's a total shithole..."

"Geez...I get it, I get it! Just go to the seats that I've assigned you! Hop to it! Christmas is coming!" Monokuma yelled.

We walked over to our assigned areas, leaving me next to Celeste and Fukawa. I don't know, it kind of scares me actually...The seats were arranged in a circle so then we could see each-other perfectly...Great...Then there's always going to be a set of eyes on me...

Monokuma cleared his throat – I don't even question it anymore – and began to speak. "Okay, so we will begin with a simple explanation of the class trial so then even you beginners can understand! If you vote correctly for whom you think committed the crime, only they will be punished. But, if you choose poorly...Then everyone else will be punished and I'll let the murderer graduate and do as they please!" He explained.

"That means, the killer is actually one of us, right?" Naegi asked.

"Absolutely!" Monokuma answered with a nod.

"Alright," Ishimaru began. "Everyone close your eyes, and the culprit, raise your hand!"

...

...Um...?

"What are you, on drugs or something? Why would they raise their hand?" Oowada asked.

"Before we continue, I need to ask about something..." Kirigiri began. "What exactly...Are _those_?"

I noticed what she was referring to and it turned out to be a picture frame for everyone who died so far...Enoshima and Maizono...

"Well wouldn't it be a shame if they weren't able to take part just because they died...Well, I guess that friendship penetrates death's barrier like that sometimes...!" Monokuma answered.

"Friendship...Penetrates...?" Yamada gasped. Not even _I_ thought of that.

"Yes well," Celeste began. "That's one question, but...What of the empty seat? If only fifteen of us were here at the start, what was the point of the extra seat?"

"Oh, let's not get into that! The courtroom just fits up to sixteen people is all..." Monokuma answered. "Now that those questions are out of the way, let's begin."

"Let the class trial begin...!"

**Nonstop Debate:**

"_Let it be known! The victim here was Maizono Sayaka!" _Ishimaru shouted.

"_Well, yeah...That part's obvious..." _Oowada told him.

"_The murder took place in Naegi's room..."_ Togami stated, getting to the point.

"_It was the bathroom, right?" _Asahina added.

"_The only thing I can think of is..." _Fujisaki began. _"The killer caught her off guard while she was in the bathroom...So she _**couldn't have defended herself or fought back...**_"_

"**No, that's wrong!" **Naegi shouted.

**End of Nonstop Debate:**

"But, there _was_ a struggle, Fujisaki...After all; my room was damaged in many places, so I think we can assume that something happened..."

The conversations continued on and on like this...Naegi finding all the contradictions in our arguments and Kirigiri insisting that he wasn't the killer...But still, everything seemed to be going smoothly...Until some events began to happen...

First, Kirigiri pulled out a piece of paper and read aloud what had been written on it.

"_There's something I want to talk to you about,  
Just us two.  
In five minutes,  
Come see me in my room.  
Check the nameplates to make sure you don't get the wrong room,  
Okay?  
Maizono Sayaka"_

The Hell? How'd she...? I had the note with me the entire time! So unless she's a mind-reader...

"While investigating, I found a notepad and with a pencil, shaded the top sheet." Kirigiri explained. "And that is how I found the letter, without finding the original..."

"Ah! Like in detective shows and movies! It all makes sense!" Asahina gasped. "Sometimes when a person writes on top of another piece of paper, it can leave an imprint. And then if you colour over the next sheet, the words will appear! That made me always remember to rip the paper out before I wrote!" Well, that makes sense, and here I thought that she was actually reading my mind...

"Yes, the classics are even useful from time to time...Though; I think it would be useful to mention that the notepad was on Naegi's desk when I found it." Kirigiri continued. "So therefore, I can only reach the assumption that it was someone in the room at the time."

"You can't forget that Naegi was also there that day...Right?" Togami reminded.

"Then, Naegi...Did you write this...?" Kirirgiri asked.

"N-No! Of course I didn't-!" Naegi began.

"I know that. The letter has a signature that is completely legit. No one forged Maizono's signature..." Kirigiri told him.

Then later, just when I thought I was okay, they got closer and closer...

**Nonstop Debate:**

"_It's easy enough to say, 'Hey, choose who the killer is'! But there's _**no clues left**_. That sounds right..." _I stated.

Naegi shook his head. **"No, that's wrong!"**

**End of Nonstop Debate:**

"No, there's a clue left, Kuwata..." Naegi told me. "Maizono's dying message..."

"Maizono's dining what now?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Last time I checked, she died! Why am I only now just hearing about this.

"Maizono wrote something on the wall behind her – her dying message to be specific." Kirigiri added. "Within the numbers 11037, there surely is some kind of hidden meaning..."

Crap! 11037? The Hell? Well, there's no way she can write my name or nothing with those numbers! Right?

"But, if I may interrupt..." Celeste said. "We can't be sure that Maizono wrote it, right?"

"No, I think we can be pretty sure..." Naegi continued. "After all, her left index finger was stained with blood. With that, we can assume that that finger was used to write it."

"Yes, that makes sense..." Ishimaru agreed. "After all, after breaking her right wrist, the only way to write is by using her left hand..."

"Okay, so she wrote it...We know _that_ much..." Asahina said. "But what could 11037 mean?"

"Fujisaki's the computer nerd, isn't she? Knowing numbers is something you should have down clean!" Oowada stated.

"I-I'm not a...I'm a programmer, but these numbers seem to have no meaning..." Fujisaki replied, sounding kind of insulted by being referred to as a 'computer nerd'.

"Well, of course you don't." Kirigiri said. "Because they're not numbers..."

"Yes! Yes! I see it!" Yamada declared. Really?

"What is it?" Oowada asked.

"Well, if you look at the numbers with the thought that they're not numbers...The two one's look like more of a letter instead of two numbers." Yamada explained.

"Ah! I see it now! Looking at it, you would think it would be 11, but there's a connecting line in-between the two of them. I think it looks more like an N now!" Fujisaki said in surprise.

"You've finally said something useful! That's surprising!" Oowada laughed.

"Can you tell that your grey cells are excited?" Yamada asked.

"But," Oogami began. "N037 isn't getting us much further than the numbers..."

N037...Please God, don't tell me! She actually wrote it that close to the point? As long as someone doesn't...

"Rotate them one-hundred and eighty degrees..." Kirigiri told everyone. Shit...Shit! SHIT!

"Don't tell me...She wrote the killer's name for us!" Naegi gasped.

"Huh? So no clue? Just the killer's name! That excelled quick!" Asahina said in shock.

"Whose name d-did she write with those n-numbers?" Fukawa stuttered.

Shit! Am I dead? Please tell me that they don't know who it is! I can feel my palms becoming increasingly sweaty as I waited for the answer.

"Well, the key is just to rotate 11037 one-hundred and eighty degrees, right?" Naegi asked. "By turning it around you find the letters L-E-O-N."

Shit! I am dead! Unless they didn't bother to remember my first name, then I am dead!

"I'm sure that we can spell with those letters...So put them together and we get the name Leon!" Naegi concluded.

"Wh-But that's-!" I sputtered. "Y-You're crazy right? That's all just a coincidence! It just happened to look like my name, it looks random to me!"

"No, that's not the case..." Kirigiri said as she shook her head. "If a person is leaning up against a wall behind them while writing, it would appear to be written upside down. She couldn't move well, so she had to write like that. And that's why if you stand in front of her, it looks flipped. If you tried it, the letters would be inverted."

Shit...I need to convince them somehow...

"That's a pretty big accusation, though..." I told them. "What do you mean I'm the killer? That's one Hell of a shitty joke to me!"

"You may _think_ you're innocent for now," Kirigiri replied. "But, you tried to dispose of the evidence, didn't you?"

"What?" I asked. If she's talking about the hair...We covered that before! And not today either! So is she referring to...?

"You should know what evidence I'm talking about, right Naegi?" Kirigiri asked.

"Um...There was a shirt piece that was slightly burnt...I found that on the ground near the incinerator..." Naegi replied. Shirt piece? Are you telling me that I didn't get rid of it all? You got to be kidding me!

"After stabbing Maizono, they must've gotten some blood on themself...And the only way to dispose of something with that much blood on it here, they would've had to throw it in the incinerator..." Kirigiri added.

"But, a piece of the shirt must've been burnt off and it got left behind..." Celeste mumbled.

"Unfortunately for the killer, they didn't notice...Because they never panicked about it..." Kirigiri concluded. "Does that sound right to you, Kuwata?"

"Wait-wait-wait!" I said to her.

"Though, we can't say that Kuwata is the culprit because of one piece of fabric..." Oogami stated.

"And, I did notice that Kuwata isn't the only one with a white button-up..." Fujisaki said in thought. Finally!

"Yeah! She's right! There are more people with shirts that look like mine!" I defended. "I mean, we only have that one little piece to go off on...There's no telling who it belongs to!"

"I guess we have to agree there, but Kuwata..." Naegi continued on. "There's more evidence that points to you..."

"Yes...The truth behind the riddles are coming together..." Kirigiri said with a nod. "You're understanding now, right?"

"Yeah...I'm sure I am!" Naegi replied. "To solve this case, we need to think of how the shirt was disposed of."

I gulped. Maybe if I... "W-Well, I think I know what you're getting at...Without a key, you can't get to the incinerator past the gate in the Trash Room, right? And there's no way to hit the switch to turn it on, obviously! And if I heard right, only the Janitor is the one with the key! And that means that the killer _has_ to be the Janitor! Right?"

Yamada began laughing as if he didn't know who I was talking about. "Wait...HUH?" He screamed. Okay...There it is...

Naegi's eyes narrowed. Doesn't he ever give up?

**Nonstop Debate:**

"_The key to open the gate..." _I began. _"_**The Janitor in charge** _should've had it, right?"_

"_That m-means that the only o-one to get to the incinerator w-was...Actually_** the Janitor**?" Fukawa asked in shock.

"_Obviously _**being close to the incinerator **_is the only way to destroy the evidence!" I added._

"**No, that's wrong!"** Naegi shouted.

**End of Nonstop Debate:**

"No, I think there's a way to dispose of the evidence without needing the key..." Naegi said.

"But, without being able to get past the gate, there's no way to turn on the incinerator...Is there...?" Oogami asked.

"Yes there is...If you used something like this..." Naegi stated as he showed us the broken glass ball that I used last night.

"Is that supposed to be a glass ball? It's all broken and shit..." Oowada commented.

"Um...Actually, it was supposed to be a crystal ball..." Hagakure corrected.

"But how could it be used?" Fujisaki asked.

"Well, I'd imagine that they took aim and threw it through the gaps of the gate..." Naegi answered. "Just hitting the switch and the incinerator turns on!"

"Huh? Throwing it through the gap of the gate?" Yamada asked.

"Yamada, you said something before..." Naegi began. "You said that it was turned off before you left the room...So, if Yamada had the key the whole time, the only possible way of turning it on without him knowing...Was because the killer could hit the switch without needing to open the gate. After that, the killer only had to ball the shirt up and throw it in!"

"Come on! That's such bullshit!" I yelled.

"If you just take one look, you would be able to tell the killer didn't go in...The broken glass, the incinerator that was still on, the shirt piece that was still there...If the killer was the Janitor, then they would've been able to dispose of much more evidence..." Kirigiri said.

Son of a bitch...

"Just-Just hang on a minute!" I yelled.

"By looking at it though, the distance between the gate and incinerator has to be roughly thirty feet, would that be right? To hit something that far away and small...The accuracy needed...It sounds impossible, doesn't it?" Fujisaki asked. I knew that Fujisaki was on my side!

"She's right! T-That does sound impossible!" I agreed.

"Well, yeah...It would be difficult, but not impossible...Because Kuwata, you _are_ the Super High School Level All-Star! Right?" Naegi said.

"No, no, no! You're sounding like such a dumbass, you know that?" I yelled.

"That is true..." Celeste said with a small smile. "A target like that is a small challenge with your level of experience and ability..."

"Y-Y-You're not all serious, right? I-I-I'm not the killer!" I yelled, trying to convince everyone and myself of that. "You must all have shit-for-brains if you can think something like that!"

"You're still not going to admit it...? Maybe if the incident is reviewed once more, you will step forward...Your move, Naegi..." Kirigiri said. "And that will be the end..."

"WOULD YOU LISTEN TO ME? NOTHING IS AT THE END YET!" I yelled.

"You can say what you want, but the truth is clear...We've answered all of the questions and filled in all of the gaps." Naegi replied. "Now, here's the story..."

As Naegi was explaining, my brain felt as if it had shut down...It wouldn't work...The only way to keep my sanity was to keep on convincing myself that I wasn't the one who killed Maizono...

"Hagakure must've forgotten his crystal ball in the Laundry Room...You saw it when you were going to wash the blood out of your shirt, right? After that, you could destroy all the evidence you wanted with that one ball." Naegi continued.

...Goddamn it...

...Shut up...!

"Do you object to any of this, Kuwata?" Kirigiri asked.

...No...

...I didn't...

...They're just...

"You're asking if I object...?" I asked slowly. "HELL YEAH I OBJECT TO THIS! YOU THINK I KILLED HER? YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO COVER YOUR ASS UP BY MAKING UP THEORIES! I WANT EVIDENCE! WHERE IS IT? QUIT TALKING BULLSHIT ALREADY! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE DO YOU?"

"You want evidence?" Kirigiri asked. "You asked for evidence, and you will get it. It will confirm our suspicions...Naegi, you have some, don't you?"

Naegi blinked, but his eyes widened. "Nothing from your room was used to break the doorknob, Naegi...So; they used something of their own...!" Kirigiri continued.

"I'M NOT GOING TO BELIEVE IT WITH ANYTHING YOU MIGHT SAY! DUMBASS! DUMBASS! DUMBASS! DUMBASS! DUMBASSDUMBASSDUMBASSDUMBASSDUMBASSBUMBASS!"

"Listen! There's clear evidence that you did it!" Naegi insisted.

"DUMBASS! DUMBASS! DUMBASS!"

"If someone broke the doorknob, they used a tool." He continued.

"It...Sounds like it would be a screwdriver..." Oowada commented.

"DUMBASS! DUMBASS!"

"Well, I think that the toolkits we got had at least one screwdriver, right?" Hagakure added.

"That has to be it! I don't know of any other tools..." Yamada stated.

"DUMBASS!"

"My toolkit was untouched, though..." Naegi said.

"And that would be because they didn't know they were in your room! They thought they were in Maizono's!" Ishimaru said.

"DUMBASS!"

"And because of that, they had to use their own, because only the boys got toolkits..." Fujisaki agreed.

"So the only thing we need to do is to think of whose toolkit was used." Naegi explained.

"DUMBASS!"

"I can only think that it was their own toolkit..."

"DUMBASS! DUMBASS! DUMBASS!"

"Kuwata, you wouldn't mind showing us your toolkit? If you are the killer, we can see the evidence from the screwdriver!" Naegi asked.

"DUMBASS! DUMB-Wah...?"

"Also," Togami stepped in. "If you used it for something else, you'll have to explain in detail when, where and why...Then we might go easier on you..."

"And just so you know," Kirigiri continued. "Saying 'I lost it' isn't really an excuse now..."

"Dumbass...Dumbass..."

"So, you have nothing else to say?" Togami asked with a smirk on his face.

"It looks like...It's over..." Celeste added.

"Puhuhuhu...!" Monokuma laughed. "And so the curtain begins to lower...Are we all ready for the big conclusion? If so, just pull the lever in front of you to cast your votes! And, just be _really_ careful for the right person! Don't slip up! Who's it going to be?"

I stared at the lever he told us about while gritting my teeth. Everyone else placed their hands on top of them, their eyes avoiding contact with my own. My hand shook as I guided it towards the lever. I tried to see what everyone was thinking by looking at their face, but that was impossible. They're probably just worried that they picked the wrong person...I didn't know what to do...After all, I don't want anyone else to die because of my stupid actions, but...I just can't accept the fact that this is how I'm going to die either. I closed my eyes as I casted my vote...I couldn't blame anyone else for this...Maizono is the one who tried to kill me...Monokuma is the one who made her do this...But, I was the one who was holding the knife...

Maizono and I...I don't we're any better than each-other...With killing on our minds...Trying to frame Naegi for it – and he didn't need to be here in the first place...Lucky Student...That's ironic...

From what seemed to be a poker machine, the images scrolled quickly, and I noticed, even through my eyes that held tears that threatened to run down, that instead of the usual pictures, it was replaced with our faces. And soon, all three panels stopped on my face. My eyes widened and my mouth opened wide.

**Kuwata Leon: GUILTY**

"Aw man...! And here I thought I was going to punish all of you bastards today...But, whatever...One step at a time, I guess..." Monokuma said. "Well, you got it right."

"The one who heartlessly murdered Maizono Sayaka was everybody's favourite All-Star – Kuwata Leon!"

"N-No! That's not-!" I stuttered, unable to place the words together.

Naegi stared at me. I wasn't able to tell if he was angry, sad or whatever...He just stared. "Kuwata...You didn't actually...You have to tell me that you didn't..."

"No way!" Asahina gasped, taking a step back.

"You bastard! We could've made it, you know?" Oowada yelled.

"I've been trying to tell you all I _didn't_!" I yelled. "Not on purpose...She was going to kill me, you know? This could've been you! You're telling me that if you killed someone, you wouldn't want to get out of here? I wasn't supposed to be in a killing game in the first place! I just got...Unlucky..."

Everyone stared at me...I usually loved attention, but...

"I can't just die here! Don't you have people you care about? I just wanted to..." I began, staring at the ground.

"No," Naegi began. "It was the video...What she saw...I think if I was in her position...I don't know what I would've done! She...She just wanted to get back to her old life...With her friends..."

"Aw...This is like a teenage drama! It's a little odd, isn't it? I mean, her relationships were the reason she tried to kill someone!" Monokuma began in a smart-ass tone. "And she was like a Lolita from an anime – cute and innocent on the outside, but on the inside, she is the very definition of the Devil!"

"What?" Naegi asked, his voice becoming angrier.

"Ah! I see! I see! You feel betrayed, don't you? You're in despair, right? Right? Those feelings you shared, they caused so much despair it hurts even me! Mm...NAH!" Monokuma mocked.

"It's your fault this happened!" Naegi yelled. I looked up to see he was still yelling at Monokuma and not me...Maizono wouldn't have tried that if it weren't for you! Everything is your fault!" He tried to run up at Monokuma, Kirigiri gripping his arm.

"Stop." She said to him. "What good would it be if you died here? That's another unnecessary casualty. Maizono wouldn't want that...He'll get his very own punishment soon enough, Naegi..."

"Damn it!" Naegi growled.

"Ah! So scary...! He was going to hurt me! And here I thought I was going to have to put him in the naughty corner! Or perhaps stuff him into a barrel and stick a bunch of swords and see if he survived! But enough about my fantasies for the later future, let's move back a few steps and punish the culprit for this case! You got that, Kuwata?" Monokuma screamed in excitement.

"Y-You don't mean, _execution_, do you?" I asked. "If it was self-defence...Look, I _had _to kill her! I mean, she was-!"

"Self-defence? That's what your argument is?" Celeste asked. "I believe that we covered the fact that you ran all the way back to your room to get your toolkit and force your way into the bathroom...You killed her after that...You could've stopped right there and then when she ran into the bathroom. But you chose to do the thing only a fool would do...Perhaps, you _wanted_ to murder...It didn't have to be her, but to murder anyone...Not even to escape..."

I felt a lump in my throat as she said all of those things. "N-No! That's not it at all! I was trying to-!"

"Please stop," Naegi said softly. "I don't need to hear anymore..."

"What?" Celeste asked. "You and Maizono were quite close...Are you sure you don't want him further questioned...?"

Naegi shook his head. "I'm not going to blame Kuwata or even Maizono for this...Because the one to blame is Monokuma, after all!"

"HUH? ME? OBJECTION! OBJECTION! TAKE THAT!" Monokuma yelled.

"Maizono, Enoshima, Kuwata...They wouldn't have had to go through this if it weren't for you!" Naegi yelled. "Why are we fighting each-other when we could be trying to fight against the mastermind?"

"Wha-wha? Is this the so-called _justice_ you're crawling to help for? You know the kind of justice that causes world wars? You're trying to start are war aren't you? Upupupu...!" Monokuma asked.

"Be quiet! I-!"

"Oh no, no, no...! This won't do! We've gotten side-tracked again...Let's skip to the important part! It's time for us to begin!" Monokuma screamed. What?

"Y-You can't do this! I'm practically begging you here! Kanon, she-!" I pleaded without getting far.

"No, NO! We can't keep on acting as if this is a filler episode of a Shounen anime! You got to pay for the crime committed!" Monokuma interrupted.

"No! Please don't! I need to-!"

"Let's move on to this _special_ punishment for our All-Star – Kuwata Leon!"

"I'm telling you not to do this!"

"Let's do our best! Time for the execution to begin!"

"NO! DON'T!"

**Execution Begin:**

Monokuma pressed a button with one of those hammers that judges use in court and before I could think, I was grabbed by my neck and quickly pulled me away from the others.

I was being pulled quickly as I was sliding on my back, trying to plant my feet on the ground so I could somehow stop moving, but everything was going too fast for me to keep up. I felt as if I were being choked to death...The chain around my throat reminded me of how this is like how army members disobeying orders would be put through a number of torturous acts before finally killed...At first, I was expecting everyone to jump out and say 'hey, Kuwata! Sorry for tricking you like that!' and the prank would be over. But, I _knew_ now that it was _never_ going to happen.

The chain soon stopped dragging me, but I was strapped to a pole. Looking around, I knew what the area felt like to me. I think it's a set of a baseball field, but now, I can't tell what's real and what's not...Lights were shining on my face. As I looked forward, I noticed an automatic pitcher shoot from the ground, aimed at me. I knew well how this worked...One of these machines is pretty harmless from far away, but it was way closer than it should be. As it was being loaded with baseballs, the engine could be heard. Looking out further, I saw that everyone was gathered and staring at me with mixed expressions written on their faces. God no...! It was bad enough dying alone...! Now it's worse...!

The pitcher began to slowly shoot baseballs at me, making me flinch each time. Though, I had no time at all to react when the pitcher began shooting me at an unbelievable speed. Nothing that our pitchers would even have a chance of shooting that fast. This is something only an expert could even dream of building. It was shooting my arms, shoulders, legs, stomach – everywhere! It hurt like HELL! I could tell that I was bleeding...Never in my life have I ever felt so much pain! I'm seriously going to die here...I know it!

I kept my eyes closed from that point on, but I was still seeing things. The Academy. Kanon overreacting because I got accepted. Messing around with Fujisaki and Oowada. Splashing everyone in the face with pool water. Taking part in a race. Throwing snowballs at Oowada and ishimaru. Playing a round of baseball with Naegi. Practicing music with Maizono. All of us rounded up together. Me, Naegi, Maizono, Kirigiri, Oowada, Ishimaru, Fujisaki, Oogami, Asahina, Hagakure, Yamada, Celeste, Togami, Fukawa, Enoshima and...Wait...? And...? Wait a minute...Of course there's an 'and'! Ikusaba! The sixteen of us! But, where is she? She's still alive...But...Looking back on it, there was something off about Enoshima's face...And everything looked...Odd...

My eyes opened as soon as my mouth, trying to say 'Ikusaba'. But, I never could...My voice was practically gone and by that time, I saw baseballs flying right towards my face. All I could see was my own blood covering my vision. Though I could see the pitcher shutting down and the looks of everyone's faces, they looked like they were going to blow chunks...I gave a weak smile before deciding to give up. The pain was too much...Besides, if I'm going to Heaven, I can say sorry to Ikusaba and Maizono for all I've done. Hopefully, I won't have to say sorry to the others for a long time.

Because I _am_ sorry...

**Author's Notes:**

**Phew! Not counting the notes here, this baby here is almost fifteen-thousand words! That's normally what I write in two chapters. It took up my entire weekend, but I seriously needed to bring back my writing muse after going so long without writing Fan-Fiction. I swear, it's not my fault! The fault lies...Within high-school! I've got more assignments and an S.A to do and I decided that I needed a break from that... (That I chose to do! That $100 better be worth it!)**

**Why did I choose to write this? Well, I wanted to write something about my darling Leon – don't think about it, he's mine! I was originally going to just write about him killing Sayaka, but then I would've had nothing else to do over the weekend. And I was practically hyperventilating when I just glanced at the word-count. I was like, "Whoa! That's over 11037!" –Sorry Leon!**

**So, if you guys could leave a review that would be great! I DID spend my entire weekend on it after all. Constructive criticism and nice comments are appreciated, just not flames. I don't want to burn like Celeste – sorry baby Celestia! I want to get better, and I want some motivation to maybe continue this and do the same with the others, even with Mukuro-chan! And Naegi-kun! SO REVIEW PLEASE! Otherwise...Um...No virtual chocolates for you!**


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